Families and Communities
For definitions, see: http://infoworks.ride.ri.gov/families-and-communities/definitions-and-background
Student Characteristics
State
Your district
Student eligibility for subsidized lunch
43%
25%
Students from Various Racial/Ethnic Backgrounds
Students Receiving ESL/Bilingual Education Services
5%
4%
Students Receiving Special Education Services
16%
18%
Summary Paragraph(s) For each heading above, write a paragraph describing a key aspect of your district. Remember to begin with strong, insightful topic sentence, use quantitative evidence to support your thesis, and include comparisons when they are useful.
In Rhode Island, the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) is given to children in public schools that receive funding from the state. The tests are used to evaluate a schools' improvement over time. They are administered to students from third grade to eleventh grade with categories in math, writing, reading, and science. In Middletown, the percentage of students who reached proficiency in the 2010-2011 school year was above Rhode Island's average in almost every grade and category. Fifth grade students did the worst last year. Their percentages were all lower than Rhode Island's averages. This is true for fourth grade math scores as well. Middletown's percentages that were well above average revolved around eleventh grade math, eleventh grade writing, sixth grade math, seventh grade math, and eighth grade math. The differences between the states' scores and the districts were well into the teens and early twenties for those grades. For example, eleventh grade math scores for Middletown came in at 56%, whereas the Rhode Island's scores only came in at 33%. That's a 23% difference. Another example was eighth grade math: the districts percentages were 74% and the state's percentages were 54%. That's a 20% difference. Other than those examples, the districts scores remained relatively close to the states'.
The teacher qualifications in Middletown are very average for the state of Rhode Island. Only 1% of teachers have emergency certification, which matches the state of Rhode Island. Emergency certification is granted to those who were unable to get fully certified as a teacher in the state of Rhode Island, but this certification is only granted when no qualified teachers are available. Luckily, very few teachers in Middletown have emergency certification. 3% of Middletown's teachers are not highly qualified. To be a highly qualified teacher, one must have a bachelor's degree, hold full state certification, and demonstrate full understanding of the subject matter by having a major in the subject or an equivalent. Middletown is slightly worse than the state of Rhode Island as a whole, which only has 1% not highly qualified teachers. Middletown's percentage of not highly qualified teachers is still quite low, even though it is a little higher than the state of Rhode Island. The teacher-student ratio in Middletown of 1:11 is the same as the average for the state of Rhode Island. This is a very good teacher-student ratio, but it is important to remember that the class sizes are not actually only 11 students. Some of the teachers counted as full-time teachers are not classroom teachers, but work more on a one-on-one basis with students. Overall, Middletown's teaching correlates well with the state of Rhode Island's.
Middletown's families and community correlate well with Rhode Island's as a whole too. Many fewer students in Middletown are eligible for subsidized lunch than in Rhode Island (25% in Middletown compared to 43% in Rhode Island). This means that many more students come from supportive families that have enough money to pay for food. 4% of students in Middletown are receiving English as a Second Language education, compared to 5% in the state. The difference is not large enough for Middletown to be better than the rest of the state, but the low percentage of ESL students is promising. Students who speak English as their primary language often do better in school than those who don't. At 18%, more students receive special education services in Middletown than the 16% in the state. Though this does mean that many students may not perform as well on tests, it could also reflect that Middletown has a good special education program that may attract students. It is also good that they are providing services to help students succeed. The special services offered to Middletown's students are very similar to those offered to all Rhode Island students.
State and District Data Collection
Students • Teaching • Families
Use the InfoWorks Live website at http://infoworks.ride.ri.gov/ to collect the necessary data to describe your school district.
Student Achievement
For definitions of key terms, see: http://infoworks.ride.ri.gov/student-achievement/definitions-and-background
NECAP
3rd Grade Math (2010-11)
3rd Grade Reading (2010-11)
4th Grade Math (2010-11)
4th Grade Reading (2010-11)
4th Grade Science (2009-10)
5th Grade Math (2010-11)
5th Grade Reading (2010-11)
5th Grade Writing (2010-11)
6th Grade Math (2010-11)
6th Grade Reading (2010-11)
7th Grade Math (2010-11)
7th Grade Reading (2010-11)
8th Grade Math (2010-11)
8th Grade Reading (2010-11)
8th Grade Writing (2010-11)
8th Grade Science (2009-10)
11th Grade Math (2010-11)
11th Grade Reading (2010-11)
11th Grade Writing (2010-11)
11th Grade Science (2009-10)
Teaching
For definitions, see: http://infoworks.ride.ri.gov/teaching/definitions-and-background
Teachers
Families and Communities
For definitions, see: http://infoworks.ride.ri.gov/families-and-communities/definitions-and-background
Summary Paragraph(s)
For each heading above, write a paragraph describing a key aspect of your district. Remember to begin with strong, insightful topic sentence, use quantitative evidence to support your thesis, and include comparisons when they are useful.
In Rhode Island, the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) is given to children in public schools that receive funding from the state. The tests are used to evaluate a schools' improvement over time. They are administered to students from third grade to eleventh grade with categories in math, writing, reading, and science. In Middletown, the percentage of students who reached proficiency in the 2010-2011 school year was above Rhode Island's average in almost every grade and category. Fifth grade students did the worst last year. Their percentages were all lower than Rhode Island's averages. This is true for fourth grade math scores as well. Middletown's percentages that were well above average revolved around eleventh grade math, eleventh grade writing, sixth grade math, seventh grade math, and eighth grade math. The differences between the states' scores and the districts were well into the teens and early twenties for those grades. For example, eleventh grade math scores for Middletown came in at 56%, whereas the Rhode Island's scores only came in at 33%. That's a 23% difference. Another example was eighth grade math: the districts percentages were 74% and the state's percentages were 54%. That's a 20% difference. Other than those examples, the districts scores remained relatively close to the states'.
The teacher qualifications in Middletown are very average for the state of Rhode Island. Only 1% of teachers have emergency certification, which matches the state of Rhode Island. Emergency certification is granted to those who were unable to get fully certified as a teacher in the state of Rhode Island, but this certification is only granted when no qualified teachers are available. Luckily, very few teachers in Middletown have emergency certification. 3% of Middletown's teachers are not highly qualified. To be a highly qualified teacher, one must have a bachelor's degree, hold full state certification, and demonstrate full understanding of the subject matter by having a major in the subject or an equivalent. Middletown is slightly worse than the state of Rhode Island as a whole, which only has 1% not highly qualified teachers. Middletown's percentage of not highly qualified teachers is still quite low, even though it is a little higher than the state of Rhode Island. The teacher-student ratio in Middletown of 1:11 is the same as the average for the state of Rhode Island. This is a very good teacher-student ratio, but it is important to remember that the class sizes are not actually only 11 students. Some of the teachers counted as full-time teachers are not classroom teachers, but work more on a one-on-one basis with students. Overall, Middletown's teaching correlates well with the state of Rhode Island's.
Middletown's families and community correlate well with Rhode Island's as a whole too. Many fewer students in Middletown are eligible for subsidized lunch than in Rhode Island (25% in Middletown compared to 43% in Rhode Island). This means that many more students come from supportive families that have enough money to pay for food. 4% of students in Middletown are receiving English as a Second Language education, compared to 5% in the state. The difference is not large enough for Middletown to be better than the rest of the state, but the low percentage of ESL students is promising. Students who speak English as their primary language often do better in school than those who don't. At 18%, more students receive special education services in Middletown than the 16% in the state. Though this does mean that many students may not perform as well on tests, it could also reflect that Middletown has a good special education program that may attract students. It is also good that they are providing services to help students succeed. The special services offered to Middletown's students are very similar to those offered to all Rhode Island students.